The Ubuntu developers are moving quickly to bring you the latest and greatest software the Open Source community has to offer. This is the first Ubuntu 10.04 beta release, which brings a host of exciting new features.

Note:- This is beta release. Do not install it on production machines. The final stable version will be released on April 29, 2010.

This Screenshots Gallery includes installation process and what is new in ubuntu 10.04

To be honest, I don’t care IF it looks like MaxOS. It looks absolutely beautiful and most importantly… Fresh! People have always loved eye-candy and this is just one more reason to switch to Ubuntu. In my opinion, this is exactly what Ubuntu needed. Another great improvement is the boot-process. I really does boot in about 10 sec. on my setup. Very good job!

You know what, if the moving of the window buttons to the left is the primary or only basis for saying “Ubuntu now looks like MacOS”, then do you want it placed at the middle? Since left side is MacOS and right side is MS-Windows. Or how about placing the buttons lower-left or lower-right?

I’m sorry and please don’t take this as an offense, but saying it like that just because of the repositioning of the buttons is far from being valid. Don’t get me wrong, but there is only so much the designers can do while keeping to the “this is what the people expects” or “this is what the people are used to” boundaries.

If they go full-blown unique and out-of-the-box, you and me, and the rest of the users might go ballistic. If ever, they must do it gradually, and that’s what I see that they are doing.

Personally I think the changes are amazing. Ubuntu is really starting to mature and is now my primary OS. I love the sexy new font and colors. I just hope they continue in this direction.

Anecdote: I was using my GF’s computer and she has Mac. After looking for about half an hour for an app to code with I found one for $80. It then dawned on my, why don’t I just use Ubuntu instead. About the only thing MacOSX has that Ubuntu doesn’t is being able to natively run Photoshop. That’s it. Plus, with he news that steam and the source engine is coming to linux, I can’t imagine ever using another OS again.

I cannot understand, how anybody who is interested in doing positive news about Ubuntu or linux in general can publish these screenshots. Why? Man, look at the crippled fonts!!! Since years no linux distribution gets it done to install clean, goodlooking not crippled fonts that you can actually use without hurting your eyes seriuosly. I do not speak about a “matter of taste” – I speak about a technically crippled display of fonts. After years of development there still is not one person in the distro headquarters that is willing to pay attention to the health of their users. Since years every first thing I have to do with every linux distro is fiddle around for an hour or two to get clean fonts installed so that it at least starts to get usable. Thanks good there is now one website that makes installing clean fonts (hint!) much easier, but he ignorance of still putting out distros without clean looking fonts as a default is really a big problem.

This could be make or break time for Unbuntu. Sometime I think they are tyring too hard to be a MacOS or something else. Perhaps its time to go back to basics ( as the ex prime minister, Jogn Major would say ). Nice themes though